Sanshou or Sanda:

Sanshou is the original term and literally means "free hand" while Sanda
means "free hit" and is the term China is now using officially. It was
developed from a military training program in China after the Korean war
that brought together martial arts masters from around the country and
medical experts to compare and evaluate techniques. The goal was to develop
a hand-to-hand combat system based on three criteria: simplicity,
directness, and effectiveness against a larger and stronger opponent. The
system was thoroughly tested in training camps around China and in actual
border conflicts. The system was further refined in challenge matches and
street championships that occurred during the cultural revolution. The
military version that developed was based on principles of the book, The
Art of War, physics, anatomy, bio-mechanics, and human physiology. It
was designed to be a complete system of realistic unarmed combat including
striking, grappling, wrestling, takedowns and throws. It emphasizes
principles of combat rather than specific techniques, and physical
conditioning is important.

Our program eliminates some of the lethal techniques used in military
training and involves many partner drills in punching, kicking, grappling,
wrestling, sweeps, throws, takedowns, timing, and footwork. We also
emphasize contact sparring with protective gear; but, for safety, we
eliminate small joint manipulations, headbutts, chokes and elbow techniques.
While not permitted in free sparring, we do practice these techniques as
partner drills or in light contact sparring.

In competition, Sanshou allows for a variety of full contact punches,
kicks, takedowns and throws derived from traditional Chinese martial arts
and a fighter can win by knockout or points. While Sanshou is sometimes
called Chinese kickboxing, the strategies and techniques are much more
refined than kickboxing.